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Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them
The history of the B-17, her prewar trials, the pilots who flew her and her action packed role in World War II
362 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
21 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Edward Jablonski
70Ìýbooks3ÌýfollowersEdward Jablonski was the author of several biographies on American cultural personalities, such as George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Alan Jay Lerner and Irving Berlin, as well as books on aviation history.
Jablonski was born in Bay City, Michigan to a family of Polish-American journalists and writers. His father had been a writer for Sztandar Polski and another relative, Paul F. Jablonski, wrote for the Bay City Times. Early on he fell in love with the music of George and Ira Gershwin. A fan letter he wrote to Ira while in school quickly turned into regular correspondence and eventually a lasting friendship with the lyricist.
While Jablonski was interested in music, his true fascination was with aviation. Supposedly, he spent much of his time watching the planes at the James Clements Airport near the South End of Bay City. He had grown up, he said later, listening to the music of the day as he ''hung around the airport watching the planes.'' As a schoolboy he also started a correspondence with Gershwin. Later on in his life, he became interested in aerial warfare. Telling an interviewer in 1986, "Aviation makes possible the most deadly form of warfare ever -- the perversion of one of man's greatest inventions."
He served in the United States Army Field Artillery in New Guinea during World War II. For his actions in New Guinea, he was awarded the Silver Star.
After leaving the army, he attended junior college in Bay City as a pre-journalism major. He continued his studies at the New School for Social Research, receiving his bachelor's in 1950. He also completed postgraduate work in anthropology at Columbia.
While working for the March of Dimes charity in New York, Jablonski wrote articles and music reviews for a number of small magazines as well as liner notes for albums; this was the beginning of a fifty-year freelance career.
At the time of his death, he was working on "Masters of American Song", which would have been a comprehensive history of American pop music.
Jablonski was born in Bay City, Michigan to a family of Polish-American journalists and writers. His father had been a writer for Sztandar Polski and another relative, Paul F. Jablonski, wrote for the Bay City Times. Early on he fell in love with the music of George and Ira Gershwin. A fan letter he wrote to Ira while in school quickly turned into regular correspondence and eventually a lasting friendship with the lyricist.
While Jablonski was interested in music, his true fascination was with aviation. Supposedly, he spent much of his time watching the planes at the James Clements Airport near the South End of Bay City. He had grown up, he said later, listening to the music of the day as he ''hung around the airport watching the planes.'' As a schoolboy he also started a correspondence with Gershwin. Later on in his life, he became interested in aerial warfare. Telling an interviewer in 1986, "Aviation makes possible the most deadly form of warfare ever -- the perversion of one of man's greatest inventions."
He served in the United States Army Field Artillery in New Guinea during World War II. For his actions in New Guinea, he was awarded the Silver Star.
After leaving the army, he attended junior college in Bay City as a pre-journalism major. He continued his studies at the New School for Social Research, receiving his bachelor's in 1950. He also completed postgraduate work in anthropology at Columbia.
While working for the March of Dimes charity in New York, Jablonski wrote articles and music reviews for a number of small magazines as well as liner notes for albums; this was the beginning of a fifty-year freelance career.
At the time of his death, he was working on "Masters of American Song", which would have been a comprehensive history of American pop music.
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July 12, 2011
Time has afforded us some perspective since Californians rejected then Governor Schwarzenegger's special election pet propositions in 2005. Since they said no to surrendering control of the state budget to the whimsy of the executive branch; no to unaccountable gerrymandering; no to silencing the voice of the working class; no to making it even more difficult for our best and brightest to choose teaching as a profession.
The swaggering, accented, tough-talking machismo disappeared, remade overnight, not unlike the application of a Hollywood tan, into a coalition-building, olive branch-extending, centrist who only had the best interests of the state and its people at heart. A people that turned out in low numbers, typically an advantage for Republicans, to vote in the most expensive election, special or otherwise, in the state's history.
Soon gone, too, was the lofty 65% approval rating enjoyed by the governor, which right-wing pundits dismissed as not maintainable, yet which in its time served as the impetus for corporate and far-right elements to pen the aforementioned cynical legislation under that banner of all things just and good in governance, mandate. It echoes still in the Wisconsins and the Minnesotas of 2011.
Still, California is on the margin of national politics, where President Bush's agenda was, likewise, suffering setbacks. We heard of rumors that the simple, plain-talking Texan had grown sullen; that he was more likely to direct frustrated anger rather than the good-natured slap on the back to any number of nicknamed underlings. And he, too, attempted, in the wake of failed policies, to remake himself.
The Bush 43 administration repackaged Manifest Destiny v2.0, proposing that they weren't the only ones that thought Iraq was out to get us. We could finally embrace France, Russia, and the United Nations in this: that Saddam Hussein was going to send anthrax through the mail and shower various biological agents on us from converted crop dusters and fly nuclear-tipped remote controlled airplanes into our bedrooms unless we acted quickly, no matter preemptively. No matter the foreign powers mentioned refrained from invasion themselves. No matter nothing resembling weapons of mass destruction were ever found. No matter innocents suffered and died for a lie.
Neither George W. Bush nor Arnold Schwarzenegger ever went to war, yet both owe their careers to its application: Dubya springboarded into public service from a few passes over parades during the greatest conflict of his young life, and Arnold, perhaps working through the neuroses of his father's fascism, or perhaps exploiting our own watered down and distinctive stripe, dispatched assorted villains of the celluloid variety in his prime.
My great-uncle, however, did go to war, though I doubt very much he would think he benefited from it. He was a captain in the 8th Air Force and piloted numerous missions in a B-17 over Nazi-occupied Europe. He dropped lots of bombs. He saw friends lose their lives. He feared for his own. He was shot down and spirited back to England only to be put back in a plane and made to drop more bombs. Towards the end of the war, after the skies had been wiped clean of the Luftwaffe, he carried the no less lethal payload of military intelligence officers on his flights as they would survey the damage wrought on Germany by ceaseless formations of bombers. It was then that he learned of the bombs that missed their targets. Bombs that landed on schools and churches instead of factories and military positions. He was never worth a damn after he came back home, or so I'm told. I do know that he never had a job in all the years I knew him and he made his way, for the most part, through the kindness of family. All the same, I marveled at him during holiday gatherings and surrendered to his tales of adventure. He died from complications arising from an automobile accident in 2005, shortly after Veteran's Day.
Men like Bush and Schwarzenegger exhibit traits not altogether different than those of your run of the mill psychopath. They are men that don't, or won't, consider consequences when making a decision. They are 'big picture' types that can't be bothered with details or outcomes because, like greedy two-year-olds with unlimited resources, they must act. This is honored in our society as "decisiveness." And indeed, why should they be bothered? Their reality is made for them. Men like my great-uncle were rendered perpetually indecisive as a result of shaping that reality.
About the same time my great uncle was ferrying the brass over what had been Germany, in Japan, a whole city called Hiroshima was wiped from existence by one bomb. As Emperor Hirohito witnessed his reality collapsing, he retreated into the fantasy of ego, turning his attentions to preserving the cultural and religious icons that justified his monarchy -- assorted trinkets which supposedly dated from time immemorial and were scattered about his island kingdom in various temples -- rather than consider the terms of surrender put forth by the Allies. Another city would have to be sacrificed upon the altar of industrial warfare before he would convince his ministers to concede defeat.
And so we come to George Bush on November 11, 2005, when he chose to forego the tradition of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the one day of the year dedicated to the men and women that would shape his reality, if only they could, for the sake of a poll-boosting pledge to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban the burning of the flag, that tangible icon of this American experience that binds our nation together, and, more precisely, to its figurehead, the president. He wrapped himself in the shroud of Old Glory and waited for political resurrection while my great-uncle withered and died, unknown to all but his family.
My great-uncle was piloting the B-17 you see in the upper left corner of this picture. It can be found on page 140, introducing the chapter titled 'Impious War.'
The swaggering, accented, tough-talking machismo disappeared, remade overnight, not unlike the application of a Hollywood tan, into a coalition-building, olive branch-extending, centrist who only had the best interests of the state and its people at heart. A people that turned out in low numbers, typically an advantage for Republicans, to vote in the most expensive election, special or otherwise, in the state's history.
Soon gone, too, was the lofty 65% approval rating enjoyed by the governor, which right-wing pundits dismissed as not maintainable, yet which in its time served as the impetus for corporate and far-right elements to pen the aforementioned cynical legislation under that banner of all things just and good in governance, mandate. It echoes still in the Wisconsins and the Minnesotas of 2011.
Still, California is on the margin of national politics, where President Bush's agenda was, likewise, suffering setbacks. We heard of rumors that the simple, plain-talking Texan had grown sullen; that he was more likely to direct frustrated anger rather than the good-natured slap on the back to any number of nicknamed underlings. And he, too, attempted, in the wake of failed policies, to remake himself.
The Bush 43 administration repackaged Manifest Destiny v2.0, proposing that they weren't the only ones that thought Iraq was out to get us. We could finally embrace France, Russia, and the United Nations in this: that Saddam Hussein was going to send anthrax through the mail and shower various biological agents on us from converted crop dusters and fly nuclear-tipped remote controlled airplanes into our bedrooms unless we acted quickly, no matter preemptively. No matter the foreign powers mentioned refrained from invasion themselves. No matter nothing resembling weapons of mass destruction were ever found. No matter innocents suffered and died for a lie.
Neither George W. Bush nor Arnold Schwarzenegger ever went to war, yet both owe their careers to its application: Dubya springboarded into public service from a few passes over parades during the greatest conflict of his young life, and Arnold, perhaps working through the neuroses of his father's fascism, or perhaps exploiting our own watered down and distinctive stripe, dispatched assorted villains of the celluloid variety in his prime.
My great-uncle, however, did go to war, though I doubt very much he would think he benefited from it. He was a captain in the 8th Air Force and piloted numerous missions in a B-17 over Nazi-occupied Europe. He dropped lots of bombs. He saw friends lose their lives. He feared for his own. He was shot down and spirited back to England only to be put back in a plane and made to drop more bombs. Towards the end of the war, after the skies had been wiped clean of the Luftwaffe, he carried the no less lethal payload of military intelligence officers on his flights as they would survey the damage wrought on Germany by ceaseless formations of bombers. It was then that he learned of the bombs that missed their targets. Bombs that landed on schools and churches instead of factories and military positions. He was never worth a damn after he came back home, or so I'm told. I do know that he never had a job in all the years I knew him and he made his way, for the most part, through the kindness of family. All the same, I marveled at him during holiday gatherings and surrendered to his tales of adventure. He died from complications arising from an automobile accident in 2005, shortly after Veteran's Day.
Men like Bush and Schwarzenegger exhibit traits not altogether different than those of your run of the mill psychopath. They are men that don't, or won't, consider consequences when making a decision. They are 'big picture' types that can't be bothered with details or outcomes because, like greedy two-year-olds with unlimited resources, they must act. This is honored in our society as "decisiveness." And indeed, why should they be bothered? Their reality is made for them. Men like my great-uncle were rendered perpetually indecisive as a result of shaping that reality.
About the same time my great uncle was ferrying the brass over what had been Germany, in Japan, a whole city called Hiroshima was wiped from existence by one bomb. As Emperor Hirohito witnessed his reality collapsing, he retreated into the fantasy of ego, turning his attentions to preserving the cultural and religious icons that justified his monarchy -- assorted trinkets which supposedly dated from time immemorial and were scattered about his island kingdom in various temples -- rather than consider the terms of surrender put forth by the Allies. Another city would have to be sacrificed upon the altar of industrial warfare before he would convince his ministers to concede defeat.
And so we come to George Bush on November 11, 2005, when he chose to forego the tradition of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the one day of the year dedicated to the men and women that would shape his reality, if only they could, for the sake of a poll-boosting pledge to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban the burning of the flag, that tangible icon of this American experience that binds our nation together, and, more precisely, to its figurehead, the president. He wrapped himself in the shroud of Old Glory and waited for political resurrection while my great-uncle withered and died, unknown to all but his family.
My great-uncle was piloting the B-17 you see in the upper left corner of this picture. It can be found on page 140, introducing the chapter titled 'Impious War.'
July 7, 2017
My wife bought me this book back in 1975 and even though I paged through it dozen of times over the years studying the pictures, I am embarrassed to admit that I just finished reading it. Now there is plenty of material out there to fill a library dedicated to this remarkable plane but this book deserves special recognition, in spite of its age. To begin it was written at a time when the author had the opportunity to interview the people who not only made it, but those who flew it, as well as the ones who had to clean out the blood and rebuild it after they returned literally shot to pieces. The fact that it was one tough airplane was demonstrated not only by the photos but also by the testimonies of grateful crews who never thought they would make it home again. In fact, one B-17 flew on after the crew bailed out to somehow safely land itself at an airfield before it even ran out of gas! One famous picture shows a B-17 flying on after being nearly cut in half by an enemy plane. One salvage crew gave up counting the bullet holes on one when they got up to 800!
The exploits of the crews are also covered. Some gave their all, as the turret gunner who stayed at his guns firing back at enemy planes strafing his comrades in the water as he and his plane sank beneath the waves. And there was the two crewmembers who died trying to land the damaged bomber because they didn't want to bail out and leave their wounded buddy behind. Yea, I know some of you are probably thinking, "Why didn't they let the plane land itself?" Well, that's besides the point.
For a book that has a lot less pages than Pillars of the Earth this book is loaded with information. When you read this book, you not only find out what "feathering the prop" means but how to do it on the B-17 as well. Not only that but the author explains the duties of the various crewmembers as well as what happens during the bombing run or how you ditch the aircraft.
There are some amusing moments as well, such as when the guy falls off his bicycle into the English roadside ditch and figures he may as well as inflate his Mae West life preserver. One can only imagine what was said when the guy tore both wings off the bomber when he crash landed after taking up two Red Cross girls for a ride!
The author lists all those who gave him invaluable help in doing his research. Besides the countless crew members who shared their experiences he listed people from Boeing, to General Eisenhower to the author's ten year old son!
There are a handful of planes that will be remembered whenever the history of air warfare is discussed. This book tells you why the B-17 will be one of them.
The exploits of the crews are also covered. Some gave their all, as the turret gunner who stayed at his guns firing back at enemy planes strafing his comrades in the water as he and his plane sank beneath the waves. And there was the two crewmembers who died trying to land the damaged bomber because they didn't want to bail out and leave their wounded buddy behind. Yea, I know some of you are probably thinking, "Why didn't they let the plane land itself?" Well, that's besides the point.
For a book that has a lot less pages than Pillars of the Earth this book is loaded with information. When you read this book, you not only find out what "feathering the prop" means but how to do it on the B-17 as well. Not only that but the author explains the duties of the various crewmembers as well as what happens during the bombing run or how you ditch the aircraft.
There are some amusing moments as well, such as when the guy falls off his bicycle into the English roadside ditch and figures he may as well as inflate his Mae West life preserver. One can only imagine what was said when the guy tore both wings off the bomber when he crash landed after taking up two Red Cross girls for a ride!
The author lists all those who gave him invaluable help in doing his research. Besides the countless crew members who shared their experiences he listed people from Boeing, to General Eisenhower to the author's ten year old son!
There are a handful of planes that will be remembered whenever the history of air warfare is discussed. This book tells you why the B-17 will be one of them.
May 5, 2017
This is the book that started me on WW II. Well written and lots of pictures. A little simplistic view, but well worth the read, for the pictures alone. One of the cherished volumes in my personal library.
June 10, 2013
There's a lot to like about this book. To me, it is written the way a popular history ought to be written. It is well-researched, but is very readable, telling the history of the B-17 through stories of the men who built and flew it.
The first time I encountered Flying Fortress was as a child -- it was my Dad's book -- and I was fascinated by the pictures and learned a bit by reading the captions. As an adult, I bought my own copy and started in with the text itself. What I like best about it is that by telling the stories of the pivotal role played by the many men involved with the manufacture and operation of the B-17's, it demonstrates quite clearly how history is made by the actions of individuals. The stories themselves are harrowing, blood-chilling dramas -- none-the-less for the fact that they are true. It helps give an appreciation, like so few World War II history books do, for the excitement and horror of warfare.
Something else I like about Flying Fortress -- still -- are the pictures and supplemental information (including a reduced-size copy of a flight manual). Edward Jablonski collected these photographs and other information from official sources, as well as individuals. I expect you will not see them anywhere else. For years now, most cable channel history programs have recycled the same photographs and videos and simply put them to new music and voice-overs. Very economical for their business model, I expect. Jablonski, on the other hand -- writing back in the early 1960's -- was very particular in his selections. Each photo tells its own story, and most of the photos depict the stories told in the text.
This book, both long ago and now, have kindled in me a love and appreciation for aviation, history, ingenuity, and human daring. And the best part is that it's all true.
The first time I encountered Flying Fortress was as a child -- it was my Dad's book -- and I was fascinated by the pictures and learned a bit by reading the captions. As an adult, I bought my own copy and started in with the text itself. What I like best about it is that by telling the stories of the pivotal role played by the many men involved with the manufacture and operation of the B-17's, it demonstrates quite clearly how history is made by the actions of individuals. The stories themselves are harrowing, blood-chilling dramas -- none-the-less for the fact that they are true. It helps give an appreciation, like so few World War II history books do, for the excitement and horror of warfare.
Something else I like about Flying Fortress -- still -- are the pictures and supplemental information (including a reduced-size copy of a flight manual). Edward Jablonski collected these photographs and other information from official sources, as well as individuals. I expect you will not see them anywhere else. For years now, most cable channel history programs have recycled the same photographs and videos and simply put them to new music and voice-overs. Very economical for their business model, I expect. Jablonski, on the other hand -- writing back in the early 1960's -- was very particular in his selections. Each photo tells its own story, and most of the photos depict the stories told in the text.
This book, both long ago and now, have kindled in me a love and appreciation for aviation, history, ingenuity, and human daring. And the best part is that it's all true.
July 15, 2013
Just thinking of what went into this airplane at the point in history when it was conceived and manufactured, and the crews that flew them is just remarkable. A very important chapter in aviation well documented. I bought this book during the 80's at the now legendary Economy Bookstore in Syracuse, glad to have had it all these years.
May 26, 2010
'Flying Fortress', Edward Jablowski,Ìý1965. For those in the know, this book needs no introduction. In preparation for taking a little joy ride in the "Yankee Lady" -a restored Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, IÌýdusted off my cherishedÌýfirst edition. There are few books that I feel are worth reading twice. This is one of them. I found it just as riveting now,Ìýas I did when I was sixteen. Jablowski'sÌý"Flying Fortress"Ìýis a true classic.
Ìý
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March 28, 2019
For me this is the definitive book on the B-17. Well written, crafted balanced and researched. A well balanced mix of the design, technology and testing of the original plane. Great stories from the men who flew the plane and a really neat photo essay of what went into a mission. The technical drawings and specifications are just great. There are even the technical manuals for each crew position on the Bomber. It took me years of raiding used book stores to get a copy and I will never let go of this book.
If you want to know about the B-17 This is the book!
If you want to know about the B-17 This is the book!
June 19, 2024
Jablonski documents how and why he considers the B-17 "the greatest plane of its time, and perhaps of all time." He writes about the statistics and production of the bomber, but also writes about their crews going to war.
"It has been said that war is an art; it is not. War is a succession of more or less controlled calamity-and even what control exists is frightfully dependent upon whim, chance, luck, and any number of unpredictable variables."
The stories of two particular B-17's stood out to me:
1) The "Bataan", General Douglas MacArthur's specially converted B-17E flying headquarters. Only the single 50-caliber gun in the nose and twin fifties in the tail were retained of the armament; the other turrets, bomb racks and armor plate were removed to make way for all the facilities of a command plane.Ìý
2) The "All American III" was a B-17F that was able to return safely to its base after having its rear fuselage nearly cut off by an in-flight collision with a German Bf 109 over enemy-held territory. The bomber's flight is said to have yielded one of the most famous photographs of World War II, and has been linked with the phrase "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer."Ìý
A total of 12,731 Flying Fortresses were produced from 1935-1945. Approximately 4750 were lost on combat missions - the loss rate of bomber crews in WWII was second only to the infantry.
"It has been said that war is an art; it is not. War is a succession of more or less controlled calamity-and even what control exists is frightfully dependent upon whim, chance, luck, and any number of unpredictable variables."
The stories of two particular B-17's stood out to me:
1) The "Bataan", General Douglas MacArthur's specially converted B-17E flying headquarters. Only the single 50-caliber gun in the nose and twin fifties in the tail were retained of the armament; the other turrets, bomb racks and armor plate were removed to make way for all the facilities of a command plane.Ìý
2) The "All American III" was a B-17F that was able to return safely to its base after having its rear fuselage nearly cut off by an in-flight collision with a German Bf 109 over enemy-held territory. The bomber's flight is said to have yielded one of the most famous photographs of World War II, and has been linked with the phrase "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer."Ìý
A total of 12,731 Flying Fortresses were produced from 1935-1945. Approximately 4750 were lost on combat missions - the loss rate of bomber crews in WWII was second only to the infantry.
November 18, 2017
A really fine book with spectacular stories. A good balance of personal stories and descriptions of the aircraft. Biggest flaw is that the book is not more of a picture book on glossy pages... though the reproductions of the photographs are still acceptable.
October 5, 2019
The introductory background did not seem as interesting, but I think it's necessary to understand how the B-17 came about. I loved the use of personal stories. The supplemental information was great: pilot's manual, diagrams, bomb loads, everything!
November 4, 2019
Great book if you are interested in the history of air warfare during WWII, specifically the history of the B-17.
January 14, 2017
One of the primary reads for any interested in B-17's and the men who flew them.
December 28, 2014
“Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them,� by Edward Jablonski (Doubleday, 1965). Well, the title says it all. Detailed history of the development of the plane, from the origins of Boeing through the Monomail, the YB-15, Model 299, and up to the B-29. Loads of illustrations, good maps and charts, fascinating story. It even includes my Uncle Stanley (although it was written after he changed his name and identity, from Stanley Rosenblum of Brooklyn, NY, to Stanley Russell of Sudbury, MA). Some of the history has been overtaken by more recent work---he keeps calling it precision bombing, and argues that the American system was much more accurate than the British area bombing, although we know now that it was barely more accurate and that eventually the Americans were only pretending to aim solely at industrial and military targets. But it is fascinating nonetheless.
“Flying Fortress, the illustrated biography of the B-17s and the men who flew them,� by Edward Jablonski (Doubleday, 1965). As detailed as one would want to get. The origins of the idea of a long-range bomber. How few people thought a four-engine plane was feasible. The early designs and the growing sophistication of the plane. The first long-range flights. Nobody really knew how to use them; it was actually believed they could defend themselves. The first B-17s were sent to Britain early in their development, and the Brits did not listen to advice the Americans gave them about training and use. So the British planes were massacred. Development continued, especially in improving and increasing the armament. More and more planes arrived in England. Tactics had to be developed. What formations? How to create the formations in the air? How to navigate? How to bomb? It was slow and bloody and full of failures. But eventually the B-17G arrived, complete with twin 50s in the nose to fight head-on attacks. And then the long-range P-51, which travelled with the bomber stream to Berlin and back. They may not have broken the will of the Germans, but they increasingly made it impossible for them to fight. Air defenses were taken from the Eastern Front to defend the Reich, freeing the Soviets. The Luftwaffe was worn to nothing. Fuel disappeared. The bombers did not win the war themselves, but they were necessary. And the airmen knew they were killing women and children. They were told it was going to happen but they had to do it. Downed airmen had to be protected from the German civilians. The book is full of stories of miraculous survivals, how incredibly strong and well-built these planes were. The myth of Colin Kelly and Meyer Levin sinking (or not) the BB Haruna (which is probably wasn’t); the story of pilot Robert “Rosy� Rosenthal, the best pilot in the Eighth Air Force, and how his crews loved him. Etc. etc. Fascinating. Complete with diagrams of construction details, the instructions for flying, landing, ditching, etc etc. An oddity: there are no Jews in this book. Rosenthal, as Jewish as they come, is once asked why they are fighting. He explains what is happening in Europe---but somehow he never mentions that Jews are being killed or that he is Jewish. Another oddity: there is a wonderful 1944 photo of my uncle Stanley, a bombardier in the plane Milk Run Mabel. But he is identified as Stanley Russell of Sudbury Mass. Except in 1944 he was Stanley Rosenbloom of Brooklyn, NY. He changed his name and identity between 1944 and 1965.
January 30, 2015
Note: the edition I read was originally published in 1965. A thorough telling of the B-17 bomber and it's role in WWII. There are stories about the crews, there are detailed illustrations of exactly a B-17 is, and there are some parts of the book that analyze German losses and changes in Germany as a result of the endless bombing Germany endured. The photographs are plentiful, formal portraits of crews and horrifying photographs of destroyed or badly damaged planes. The book does not spare gruesome details about fatalities both military and civilian. Not as readable as The Bomber Boys, the book is more scholarly than biographical. Still, if you have the time, this is a good read for students of WWII.
July 7, 2013
Sometimes history is best viewed through a single window, and the development and manning of these storied planes during WWII is a testament to that approach. I devoured every detail of this book many times down to the official training diagrams and cutaways of the plane in the appendices. I was mesmerized as a 6th grader and still am today. What I would really love to know is on the cover photo: Is that plane landing toward you or away from you. Tried many times to figure that out...
December 24, 2020
I joined the military book club when I was in the 4th grade, and this is one of the first books I got. I can't even begin to think of the number of hours I spent reading and re-reading the classic book. It's got drama and some story to it, but it's almost more of a text book on an amazing piece of machinery that really comes alive. Really a brilliant construct for a book. I never could quite tell whether the plane on the cover was coming or going given the sunset! Highly recommend.
December 11, 2015
An account of the development and service life of the B-17. Mr. Jablonski provides a detailed account of the design phases. The strength of the book is the first person accounts of the air battles of the daylight bombing in the ETO. The reader will develop a deep appreciation of the strength of this aircraft and the bravery of the men who flew and fought in them.
May 30, 2009
Good review of one of the first integrated weapon systems and one that did not work the way it was designed.
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